‘They gave up their right to be revered old men like me’: Valley veteran pays tribute to fallen at Vietnam memorial

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – For Vietnam veterans, a trip to the nation’s Capitol is special, but a trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is sacred.

One by one, Vietnam Veteran Mike Dillman found the names of the men he served alongside. With every name, Dillman rubbed his hand over the etching and said a quick prayer.

“God love him,” said Dillman.

While some veterans search for a few names, Dillman is looking for 18. He was at the bedside for each man when they died.

“We were there with them, we prayed with them, you have to understand that these are precious men, they are men who lived and died for us,” Dillman said.

During his 14 months in Vietnam as a chaplain’s assistant, Dillman sat beside wounded soldiers and watched hundreds take their last breath.

After they were gone, he escorted them to the morgue to perform last rites and wrote letters to their families, sharing details of their loved ones’ final moments.

“We were losing 600 men a week… We did our best to make sure these fellas knew they were not alone and that they were loved,” Dillman continued.

For the past 54 years, Dillman has carried the memories of his time in Vietnam every day.

His PTSD is so intense that every day is a struggle, but being able to see familiar names once again on the wall gives him some sense of peace.

“Reagan said they laid down two lives, the life they were living and then the life that they would have lived. They gave up their right to be dads and husbands and brothers and grandparents, and they gave up their right to be revered old men like me,” Dillman explained.